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supafly
Trad climber
vancouver, bc
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Topic Author's Original Post - Aug 13, 2014 - 10:02am PT
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My dad suffers from depression, his dad also suffered from it too. I have had some darker spells of depression in my life but have managed to always find ways to try and keep myself on the right track. Still.. it's a struggle.
The mind is a complex thing, or maybe we make it complex? Right now my wife is struggling with anxiety issues, waking up in the middle of the night with her heart racing. It's crippling, she has a clean bill of health but can't seem to get past this crushing anxiety. Two kids aged 2 and 4 doesn't help either.
To my point!
Is depression a First World Problem? I come from South Africa and spent my youth hanging out with black (African) dudes. I've never heard of a black (African) suffering from panic attacks or depression, yet they lead some pretty rough lives.
Has our modern first world mentality created an expectation of life that is unrealistic? Has life in the First World become a curse? Apparently the Dutch are some of the happiest people in the world, they credit their happiness to not having high expectations from life. They're just happy with what they have.
Community, or lack thereof. Have we erected walls around ourselves, literally, that keep community out and give us our privacy? We need each other, more than we think. Does the way we live - locked in our houses - lead to loneliness and lack of connection to our fellow man? Has leading insular, selfish lives lead to our current state?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 13, 2014 - 10:03am PT
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NO. Every 30 minutes a farmer in India commits suicide.
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supafly
Trad climber
vancouver, bc
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 13, 2014 - 10:07am PT
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Arguably that is created by first world expectations (by Monsanto) being thrust on them?
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survival
Big Wall climber
Terrapin Station
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Aug 13, 2014 - 10:14am PT
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From Forbes, when I asked "Who are the worlds happiest people?"
So who’s the happiest? As has been the case the past five years, that distinction goes to countries that enjoy peace, freedom, good healthcare, quality education, a functioning political system and plenty of opportunity: Norway, Sweden, Canada and New Zealand.
The saddest, least prosperous? War-ravaged countries under the thumb of greedy despots and theocrats, where freedom of expression is limited, education nonexistent, violence the norm: Chad, Congo, Central African Republic, Afghanistan and Yemen.
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supafly
Trad climber
vancouver, bc
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 13, 2014 - 10:25am PT
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I'm about to read the link thanks.. I just wanted to quickly point out that Dutch was a mistake on my part, I meant Norway!
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 13, 2014 - 10:28am PT
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supafly, actually, not so much. Most Indian farmers live well below Monsanto's
radar and therein lies the tale. When you only work 5-10 acres you are living
hand-to-mouth with no surplus or profit to tide you over if the rains don't
come or come too heavily as was excellently described in an LA Times article
last week. A large hail storm wiped out a whole area's crops just before
harvest. The article also made the point that in the one farmer's case he
had taken on the responsibility of ponying up the dowry, which have been
'illegal' in India for 50 years, for his sister in the form of a usurious loan.
The sad part was that after they found him swinging from a tree the morning
after the hail storm the family circled the wagons and salvaged enough of the
crop to pay off the loan, although the wedding was canceled.
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supafly
Trad climber
vancouver, bc
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 13, 2014 - 10:32am PT
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I would argue that depression is defined as behavior that exists in someone who, for no obvious reason, finds himself "sad" every day. Even though he has his/her needs met etc.
Maybe the poor Indian farmers suffer more from complete despair at their lives, for obvious reasons.
Do we confuse the two?
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Reilly
Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
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Aug 13, 2014 - 10:40am PT
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Do we confuse the two?
Semantics
Maybe the Indians' problem is that they're hoping they'll be reincarnated
as a Monsanto guzzling American farmer.
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supafly
Trad climber
vancouver, bc
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Topic Author's Reply - Aug 13, 2014 - 10:45am PT
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I think confusing it as semantics is an error; the depressed are people who should otherwise be happy.
The Indians are just beaten down by poverty.
Why are we as western people depressed? We have all our needs met? What is missing?
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skitch
climber
East of Heaven
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Aug 13, 2014 - 10:52am PT
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Depression is a human problem, bitching about it on stupid forums is a first world problem.
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ob1
climber
BC
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Aug 13, 2014 - 11:06am PT
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Ha! it's a good point, but maybe we bitch on a forum because we lack real life community?
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
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Aug 13, 2014 - 11:26am PT
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Having lived in rural Nepal, I can say that some forms of mental illness such as schizophrenia, seem to be inherited, and a certain percentage of women will totally lose it around the time of menopause absent the availability of hormones. Other than that, there seemed to be remarkably few problems, and those that happened were dealt with by shamans who are in my estimation, the world's best psychologists. They also had the advantage of knowing the afflicted, their families and their communities and involved them in solving temporary mental crises brought on by poverty, polygyny etc. Therefore I agree that for happiness humans need real survival related problems to overcome and they need community. Another helpful factor was the idea that the person suffering was not at fault but being afflicted by malevolent spirits. Taking the guilt factor away does wonders for the patient.
As for the first world, part of the happiness of Scandinavia, Canada and New Zealand is their satisfaction at being better survival problem solvers than more raucus societies like the U.S., Italy, Greece, Australia. Even so, a certain percentage of people in the happiest countries will engage in dangerous extreme sports that take the place of survival challenges in the past.
Personally, I think one of the most stressful and depressing situations is to be a citizen of a country like the United States which has the potential to be one of the most caring and comfortable but does not live up to that potential. A society that pits individual against individual, and destroys all the supportive institutions of the past (family, church, community, upward mobility) in the absence of social support systems similar to the happiest societies (free education, health care, maternity leave and generous pensions), puts us in the situation of having neither the supports of other advanced countries in the world or of close knit third world societies. In many ways, I think we have it the worst.
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Jan
Mountain climber
Colorado, Nepal & Okinawa
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Aug 13, 2014 - 12:31pm PT
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Thanks Jane!
I've got that bookmarked to assign to some of my anthropology classes.
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Jingy
climber
Somewhere out there
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Aug 13, 2014 - 01:18pm PT
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I nearly let everyone know how much of a messed up fraud I am.... And that was several hours ago when I first saw this post....
It said something about how like I think depression is not a first world problem. I think it occurs everywhere (and even is there is no doctor on site to make a diagnosis, depression's symptoms still exist in the brains of humans... The difference is how we and our bodies react to the changing conditions of our physical mind....
I also thought that the internet may have played an unintended role in the depression levels in internet connected countries out there - What was the internet first touted as "The internet will connect the world"... What does it look like "The internetConnecting the world".... What is an honest assessment of individual's experiences on the internet "We are all connected as a people"...?
Really?
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anita514
Gym climber
Great White North
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Aug 13, 2014 - 01:22pm PT
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those The Moth presentations are really, really great
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Jingy
climber
Somewhere out there
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Aug 13, 2014 - 01:24pm PT
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those The Moth presentations are really, really great
 The has single handedly proven to me that we are all people, we all suffer the same basic events, and that we all have an amazing ability to do anything with anything....
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mouse from merced
Trad climber
The finger of fate, my friends, is fickle.
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Aug 13, 2014 - 01:29pm PT
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Derision is a decision.
A happy face means a happy smile.
;0)
A happy Facelift/Sushi Fest/Get-together means...happy memories, promoting happiness.
Sweet Home Indiana.
[Click to View YouTube Video]
edit: These URBAN-CENTERED sub-continentals are obviously not the mundane, the lowe-caste, nor have they climbed with MooseDrool. It's not a fair representation, but I blame John Cleese. Ha ha!
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Peter Haan
Trad climber
Santa Cruz, CA
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Aug 13, 2014 - 01:35pm PT
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Apparently, a disease especially profound in warring regions and many third world areas. First world countries mostly being at the slightest levels.
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